Contagious: Why Things Catch On

“The notion is that anything these special people touch will turn to gold. If they adopt or talk about a product or idea, it will become popular. But conventional wisdom is wrong. Yes, we all know people who are really persuasive, and yes, some people have more friends than others. But in most cases that doesn’t make them any more influential in spreading information or making things go viral.”

This passage challenges a prevalent misconception about viral marketing through carefully structured rhetoric. Berger employs parallel construction (“Yes, we all know […] and yes, some people”) to acknowledge common assumptions before methodically dismantling them. The metaphor of turning things to “gold” evokes the myth of King Midas, emphasizing that the idea of naturally influential people is similarly mythical. This quote introduces The Limitations of Traditional Marketing Explanations by arguing against the simplistic notion that viral success depends primarily on influential individuals. Instead, Berger shows that the mechanics of social transmission are more complex and democratic than commonly assumed.

“You may as well observe that Bill Clinton, Bill Gates, and Bill Cosby are all famous and conclude that changing your name to Bill is the route to fame and fortune. Although the initial observation is correct, the conclusion is patently ludicrous. By merely looking at a handful of viral hits, people miss the fact that many of those features also exist in content that failed to attract any audience whatsoever. To fully understand what causes people to share things, you have to look at both successes and failures. And whether, more often than not, certain characteristics are linked to success.”

Berger employs satirical humor through the “Bill” example to illustrate the logical fallacy of correlation versus causation. The deliberate absurdity of the name-change example serves as an accessible entry point to a more sophisticated argument about research methodology. The passage demonstrates The Limitations of Traditional Marketing Explanations by highlighting how superficial analysis can lead to incorrect conclusions about viral success. Through this rhetorical strategy, Berger emphasizes the importance of rigorous analysis that examines both successes and failures to identify genuine patterns in social transmission.